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1 RECENT DEVELOPMENT THE MICHAEL MORTON ACT: MINIMIZING PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT CYNTHIA E. HUJAR ORR ROBERT G. RODERY I. Introduction II. The Michael Morton Case III. Brady v. Maryland and Its Progeny IV. The Repealed Discovery Rule V. The Michael Morton Act VI. Conclusion I. INTRODUCTION Imagine being accused, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison for murdering your family member; a murder that you did not commit. Twenty-five years slowly pass, and the world outside changes to the point of unfamiliarity while family and friends drift away. Imagine knowing that your child is growing to adulthood while your youth is withering away. Cynthia E. Hujar Orr is a criminal defense attorney with the law firm of Goldstein, Goldstein & Hilley in San Antonio, Texas. She is a chair of the American Bar Association s Criminal Justice Section and a member of the ABA s House of Delegates for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She was appointed to the Board of Governors for the Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit and is a Past President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, and San Antonio Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. Robert G. Rodery is a 2015 graduate of St. Mary s University School of Law. 407

2 408 ST. MARY S LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 46:407 Such a tragedy seems unfathomable, but Michael Morton suffered it after being wrongly convicted for the murder of his wife. 1 Morton was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for nearly twenty-five years for the murder of his wife, Christine, because the prosecution withheld favorable evidence, 2 or Brady material. 3 The withheld evidence included a bandana found behind Michael s house, stained by Christine s blood with the actual killer s hair dried in it; Michael s son s eyewitness account of the murder containing a description of the murderer and a statement that Michael was not home when it happened; and neighbors eyewitness accounts of a man carrying a wooden club casing the area behind the Morton home. 4 Worse yet, after Michael s release, police linked Christine Morton s actual killer to the murder of another wife and mother killed two years after Christine, using the same modus operandi Know the Cases: Michael Morton, INNOCENCE PROJECT, Content/Michael_Morton.php (last visited Apr. 20, 2015) (showing Michael Morton was convicted for the murder of his wife, Christine, and spent nearly twenty-five years in prison). See generally Pamela Colloff, The Innocent Man (pts. 1 & 2), TEX. MONTHLY, Nov. 2012, at 128, , , TEX. MONTHLY, Dec. 2012, at , (providing a detailed account of the Michael Morton case). 2. See Colloff, supra note 1, Nov. 2012, at (discussing the lead-investigator reports and notes that were withheld from Morton s defense attorneys); id. at 278 (uncovering the details of the lead-investigator s file, including reports of a green van behind the Mortons home and of the van s driver walking into nearby brush around the time of the murder, memos suggesting Christine Morton s credit cards and personal checks were fraudulently used after her death, and a transcript of a phone call with Morton s mother-in-law in which she recounted a conversation with the Mortons three-year-old son, which showed he had witnessed the murder); Josh Levs, Innocent Man: How Inmate Michael Morton Lost 25 Years of His Life, CNN, exonerated-prisoner-update-michael-morton/index.html (last updated Dec. 4, 2013, 2:53 PM) (reporting that prosecutors withheld evidence, including a blood-stained bandana recovered near the scene, evidence that the Mortons son had seen the murder, and evidence of a suspicious green van and its driver near the scene at the time of the murder). 3. Brady material is favorable evidence, not just exculpatory evidence. Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, (1963). 4. Know the Cases: Michael Morton, INNOCENCE PROJECT, supra note 1; Levs, supra note 2; Chuck Lindell, Mark Alan Norwood Conviction in Morton Murder Upheld, AUSTIN AM.-STATESMAN (Aug. 15, 2014, 11:09 AM), 5. During Mark Alan Norwood s resulting trial for Christine Morton s murder, District Judge Burt Carnes allowed prosecutors to discuss [the other victim] s murder because the patterns and characteristics were so distinctively similar that they constituted a signature,.... Both victims were white, in their 30s and had long brown hair. Both were attacked while lying in bed, struck in the head six to eight times with a blunt object and were covered with pillows. The killer apparently entered through an unlocked sliding glass door after jumping a backyard fence, and in both cases a single valuable item was taken a gun from the Morton home, a VCR from [the other victim s] while jewelry was left in plain sight.

3 2015] RECENT DEVELOPMENT 409 In response to this tragedy, the Texas legislature enacted Senate Bill 1611 (SB 1611), the Michael Morton Act, 6 which took effect on January 1, 2014 and radically changed the criminal discovery process in Texas. 7 Prior to this Act, the discovery procedures disadvantaged defendants and provided limited information. 8 Accordingly, the Act attempts to provide relevance-based discovery in a rational way. 9 This Recent Development provides background on Michael Morton s case and describes the prosecutor s constitutional duty to disclose evidence favorable to the accused first, as set out in Brady v. Maryland, 10 as well as provides an in-depth discussion of article of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and its implications. II. THE MICHAEL MORTON CASE While his wife, Christine, lay asleep, Michael left for work to confront the normal blur of customers and demands, co-workers, corny jokes, and busywork. 11 But an eerie thought pulled at Michael when he did not hear from Christine. 12 The eerie thought turned into panic when the babysitter told him Christine never dropped off Michael s son, Eric. 13 Michael called his home, feel[ing] sick when an unfamiliar male voice answered [his] home phone. 14 On the other end of the line was Sheriff Jim Boutwell who would only tell Michael to come home as quickly as possible. 15 Losing no time, Michael drove to his home and scrambled to Lindell, supra note Michael Morton Act, 83d Leg., R.S., ch. 49, 2013 Tex. Gen. Laws 106 (codified as an amendment to TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art (West 2014)). 7. H. COMM. ON JUDICIARY & CIVIL JURISPRUDENCE, BILL ANALYSIS, Tex. S.B. 1611, 83d Leg., R.S. (2013), available at Levs, supra note See id. (showing that even though the Supreme Court mandates the disclosure of any potentially exculpatory evidence, the disadvantage still burdens the defendant). 9. See id. (describing how the Michael Morton Act would require the state to permit the electronic duplication of [records] contain[ing] evidence material to any matter involved in [an] action ). 10. Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87 (1963) ( We now hold that the suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence was material either to guilt or to punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution. ). 11. MICHAEL MORTON, GETTING LIFE: AN INNOCENT MAN S 25-YEAR JOURNEY FROM PRISON TO PEACE 18 (2014). 12. See id. 13. Id. 14. Id. 15. Id.

4 410 ST. MARY S LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 46:407 his front door. 16 After Michael identified himself, Sheriff Boutwell delivered the crippling news: Chris is dead. 17 Thus began Michael s nightmare. Bill White and Bill Allison, Michael s lawyers, discussed the case as Christine s murder was making headlines. 18 In town to support Michael, his mother left before the next horrifying event. 19 Sheriff Boutwell knocked on Michael s door, delivering devastating words, Michael Morton, he said flatly, I m here to arrest you. 20 After a meager two-hour deliberation, a jury wrongfully convicted Michael Morton for Christine s murder. 21 Michael spent the next twentyfive years incarcerated as his relationships, family, and life diminished. 22 Years later, after much perseverance from John Raley, Nina Morrison, and Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck, Morton s counsel discovered prosecutorial misconduct. Withheld evidence showed that someone else committed the crime, and new DNA evidence identified the true killer. 23 The Innocence Project reached out to the law firm of Goldstein, Goldstein, and Hilley to assist, and Gerry Goldstein and Cynthia Orr helped the team obtain Michael Morton s release on October 4, III. BRADY V. MARYLAND AND ITS PROGENY The extent to which a prosecutor is constitutionally required to disclose favorable evidence to the accused is outlined in Brady v. Maryland and its progeny. In Brady, the prosecution withheld evidence that, even though Brady was guilty of murder, his co-defendant admitted to actually killing the victim during their jointly undertaken robbery. 25 On writ of certiorari, 16. Id. at Id. 18. Id. at Id. at Id. 21. Id. at Levs, supra note Agreed Proposed Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law at 4, Ex parte Michael Morton, No K26D (26th Dist. Ct., Williamson County, Tex. Oct. 3, 2011). 24. Michael Morton has given counsel permission to write about his case for this article. 25. Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 84 (1963). The Court, affirming the ruling from the Maryland Court of Appeals, restated portions of the Maryland court s opinion: We cannot put ourselves in the place of the jury and assume what their views would have been as to whether it did or did not matter whether it was Brady s hands or Boblit s hand that twisted the shirt about the victim s neck.... [I]t would be too dogmatic for us to say that the jury would not have attached any significance to this evidence in considering the punishment of the defendant Brady.

5 2015] RECENT DEVELOPMENT 411 the issue was whether the prosecutors suppression of favorable evidence violated Brady s right to due process. 26 In Justice Douglas s majority opinion, the Court held the suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution. 27 Subsequent cases refined the Brady rule so that the accused need not request the favorable evidence. 28 The Brady line of cases not only requires favorable evidence from prosecutors but also from their agents and others acting on the government s behalf in the case, including the police. 29 This group is labeled the prosecution team. 30 In United States v. Bagley, 31 the Court confronted the standard of review of such errors on appeal. 32 Bagley concerned impeachment evidence over payments made to secure the cooperation of several government witnesses. 33 Regarding the standard necessary for reversal of a conviction, the Court held that if admission of withheld evidence presents a reasonable probability that the result might have been different, then it is sufficiently material to require a new trial. 34 The Bagley Court therefore made it clear that Brady evidence includes impeachment evidence. 35 In Kyles v. Whitley, 36 the Court further explained that this is not a sufficiency of the evidence test. 37 A reviewing court must consider the suppressed evidence cumulatively, and if the review undermines the court s confidence in the verdict, the conviction must be Id. at 88 (alteration in original) (quoting Brady v. State, 174 A.2d 167 (Md. 1961)) (finding such minimally mitigating evidence satisfied the test for favorable evidence under Brady). 26. Id. at Id. at See United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 110 (1976) (adopting the district court s proposition that certain situations call for Brady evidence to be disclosed without a specific request). 29. Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 437 (1995). 30. See, e.g., Memorandum from David W. Ogden, Deputy Attorney Gen., U.S. Dep t of Justice to Dep t Prosecutors (Jan. 4, 2010), available at legacy/2010/01/19/dag-memo.pdf ( It is the obligation of federal prosecutors... to seek all exculpatory and impeachment information from all members of the prosecution team[, including] federal, state, and local law enforcement officers and other government officials participating in the investigation and prosecution of the criminal case against the defendant. ). 31. United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667 (1985). 32. Id. at Id. at See id. at 685 (White, J., concurring) (restating with approval the standard asserted by Justice Blackmun in Part III of the opinion). 35. See id. at 676 (majority opinion) ( Impeachment evidence, however, as well as exculpatory evidence, falls within the Brady rule. ). 36. Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419 (1995). 37. Id. at 434.

6 412 ST. MARY S LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 46:407 overturned. 38 In Kyles, the suppressed Brady evidence showed that one in four eyewitnesses described the perpetrator in a manner that did not match the defendant s description, that the state s undisclosed informant had reasons to point the finger of suspicion at the defendant, and that photos of license plates outside the apartment where the crime occurred did not include the defendant s license plate. 39 Thus, Kyles emphasizes the broad nature of Brady evidence as being merely favorable evidence. 40 What Brady does not do is impose any obligation on the prosecution to produce incriminating evidence. In this regard, the Texas Rules of Criminal Procedure govern discovery. IV. THE REPEALED DISCOVERY RULE Texas has traditionally recognized only limited pretrial discovery rights. 41 Before the Michael Morton Act, the state had no general duty to provide the defense pretrial access to the evidence in the prosecution team s possession or inform the defense as to the evidence available. 42 The prior version of Texas Code of Criminal Procedure article 39.14(a) provided the defendant the ability to inspect discoverable items, if the defendant established sufficient good cause for the trial court to direct the state to produce a tangible item or to allow for inspection with the possibility of copying any discoverable records. 43 Items that previously were not discoverable included written witness statements, written 38. See id. at ( A defendant need not demonstrate that after discounting the inculpatory evidence in light of the undisclosed evidence, there would not have been enough left to convict. The possibility of an acquittal on a criminal charge does not imply an insufficient evidentiary basis to convict. ). 39. Id. at See id. at 435 (emphasizing the Court s reasoning in Bagley that a Brady violation occurred when favorable evidence could reasonably be taken to... undermine confidence in the verdict ). 41. See Mayberry v. State, No CR, 2014 WL , at *2 (Tex. App. San Antonio 2014, no pet.) (noting the significant changes in Texas criminal discovery law); see also Hackathorn v. State, 422 S.W.2d 920, 922 (Tex. Crim. App. 1964) ( It has been a consistent holding of this Court that counsel for the state is not required to furnish the accused with statements of witnesses, copies of reports, or his written statements, for the purpose of pre-trial inspection. ). 42. See State ex rel. Holmes v. Lanford, 764 S.W.2d 593, 593 (Tex. App. Houston [14th] 1989, no pet.) ( There is no general right to discovery in a criminal case. (citing Hackathorn, 422 S.W.2d at 922)). 43. Act of May 30, 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., ch. 276, 2, sec , 2009 Tex. Gen. Laws 733 (amended 2014) (current version at TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN (a) (West 2014)). The good-cause requirement was essentially unchanged from the original adoption of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure in Act of May 31, 1965, 59th Leg., R.S., ch. 722, 1.01, sec , 1965 Tex. Gen. Laws 475 (amended 2014) (current version at TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN (a) (West 2014)).

7 2015] RECENT DEVELOPMENT 413 communications between the State and its agents, and work product. 44 Such an onerous rule did little to stem incidents of misconduct. Data released by the Innocence Project, co-founded by Peter J. Neufeld and Barry C. Scheck in 1992, 45 showed that in ninety-one criminal cases, courts decided that prosecutors committed misconduct, ranging from hiding evidence to making improper arguments to the jury. 46 The data only covered adjudicated exonerations, so logic dictates that the toll of wrongful convictions attributable to prosecutorial misconduct is likely much higher. 47 Michael Morton s case was one of the primary catalysts for reform in Texas discovery rules. 48 V. THE MICHAEL MORTON ACT The prior version of article recognized the constitutional duty to produce favorable evidence under Brady despite limited criminal discovery. Also, prior to the relevance-based discovery scheme in revised article 39.14, 49 prosecutors enjoyed a great deal of discretion in determining what constituted Brady material. 50 Revised article attempts to eliminate hindsight arguments over what was, or should have been, produced by the opposing party in a proceeding. 51 The changes also require the state and the defendant to document and produce records of all information provided under the new rules. 52 The change should prompt parties to memorialize essential communications, thereby protecting prosecutors 44. See Act of May 30, 2009, 2 ( [E]xcept written statements of witnesses and except the work product of counsel in the case and their investigators and their notes or report.... ). Some examples of work product are police reports, offense reports, arrest reports, investigative reports by a police officer, and lab reports on drugs. However, if the police report contains exculpatory evidence it must be disclosed since it is Brady material. See Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87 (1963) (holding that suppression of favorable evidence by a prosecutor violates due process). 45. About the Innocence Project, INNOCENCE PROJECT, (last visited Nov. 11, 2014). 46. See Brandi Grissom, Study: Prosecutors Not Disciplined for Misconduct, TEX. TRIB. (Mar. 29, 2012), (analyzing the growing concern over prosecutorial misconduct since cases like Michael Morton). 47. See id. 48. H. COMM. ON JUDICIARY & CIVIL JURISPRUDENCE, BILL ANALYSIS, Tex. S.B. 1611, 83d Leg., R.S. (2013). 49. See S. COMM. ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE, BILL ANALYSIS, Tex. S.B. 1611, 83d Leg., R.S. (2013). (recognizing both the fact that the Morton Act establishes a relevance based discovery scheme and the defendant s strong constitutional right to present a full defense). 50. See Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 437 (1995) (construing Brady as leaving the government with a degree of discretion ). 51. H. COMM. ON JUDICIARY & CIVIL JURISPRUDENCE, BILL ANALYSIS, Tex. S.B. 1611, 83d Leg., R.S. (2013). 52. Id.

8 414 ST. MARY S LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 46:407 from claims of misconduct. Under the Michael Morton Act, codified in amended article 39.14, a person charged with a crime who desires discovery must ask for it. 53 The state must permit the defendant access to the discovery or produce the requested information as soon as practicable after receiving a timely request from the defendant. 54 However, for the first time, the prosecution is under a statutory duty to continually disclose exculpatory evidence. 55 According to the statute, this includes evidence that is exculpatory, mitigating, or of an impeaching nature. 56 This creates an open file policy, obviating the need for the defense team to continue requesting discovery. 57 The Supreme Court has made clear that where there is such an open file, the defense has the right to rely upon continuing disclosure of favorable evidence by the prosecution. 58 The Act carves out a few exceptions to discovery. 59 Restrictions set out in section of the Family Code and article of the Code of Criminal Procedure concern crimes involving children. 60 Section provides that any request from the defendant to copy, photograph, duplicate, or otherwise reproduce a video shall be denied by the court. 61 However, such recordings need to be readily available to the defense team (including the defendant) under article of the Code of Criminal Procedure. 62 Article mandates that child pornographic material 53. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN (West 2014) (emphasis added). 54. Id. A timely request is one made seven days before the date that a pretrial hearing is set. See id ( When a criminal case is set for such pre-trial hearing, any such preliminary matters not raised or filed seven days before the hearing will not thereafter be allowed to be raised or filed.... ). 55. See Francis v. State, 428 S.W.3d 850, 856 n.12 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014) (noting the prior version of article was in effect at the time of trial). 56. CRIM. PROC (h). 57. However, counsel must still preserve the constitutional right to favorable evidence by raising its non-disclosure where such error has occurred. As mentioned above, Brady evidence need not be requested by the defense, and the prosecution has a continuing duty to disclose it. Francis, 428 S.W.3d at 856 n Banks v. Dretke, 540 U.S. 668, (2004) ( A rule... declaring prosecutor may hide, defendant must seek, is not tenable in a system constitutionally bound to accord defendants due process. ). 59. See CRIM. PROC (a) (subjecting the article to section of the Family Code and article of the Code of Criminal Procedure). 60. See id (describing the discovery of evidence related to abuse and sexual conduct by children or minors); TEX. FAM. CODE ANN (d-1) (West 2013) (regarding discovery of a video recorded interview of a child that will be used in the prosecution of a case involving that child). 61. FAM (d-1). 62. Id.

9 2015] RECENT DEVELOPMENT 415 must remain in the care, custody, or control of the court or the state, 63 and the defendant may examine the video at a state-controlled facility. 64 With the exception of this carve-out, the new discovery scheme is relevance-based. It requires all information from the prosecution, its agents, and contractors that is material to any matter in the case. 65 Article additionally contains rules for documenting and recording discovery. 66 Article 39.14(a) specifically requires that the State produce evidence material to any matter involved in the action and that [is] in possession, custody, or control of the state or any person under contract with the state. 67 Even with these changes, a continuity issue exists among the 254 Texas counties regarding the procedure for implementing the Act. For example, in Harris County, Texas, defense counsel may draft a document describing what they would like to receive from the state. 68 The state can then provide copies of police reports, log entries from on the scene police reports, and witness statements. The last page of the state s file offers a fill-in-the-blank form for defense counsel to request what they want and to note the date the state discloses that information to the defense. 69 The defense also signs off on this document, initialing to affirm they have received the documents in their conference with the state. As a matter of strategy, however, there may be some discovery that counsel may want to pursue on their own volition in order to maintain the confidentiality of their work product or theory for trial. Harris County also has a pre-printed waiver form for a defendant to waive discovery. 70 However, such a waiver cannot be knowing or intelligent since what is given up is unknown and in the vast majority of circumstances advising a client to execute such a waiver may very well be ineffective. In Bexar and Tarrant County, discovery is achieved by electronic means. 71 Whatever method is employed, it varies widely from county to county and may even differ among courts. The plain language of article 39.14(a) also imposes no requirements on 63. CRIM. PROC (b). 64. Id (d). 65. Id (a). 66. Id (i). 67. Id (a) (emphasis added). 68. The Michael Morton Act, GOLDSTEIN, GOLDSTEIN, & HILLEY, https://www.goldsteinhilley.com/presentations-lectures/the-michael-morton-act (last visited Apr. 20, 2015). 69. Id. 70. Id. 71. Id.

10 416 ST. MARY S LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 46:407 the form of the discovery to be produced. 72 Items now discoverable span from written or recorded statements of the defendant or a witness to witness statements of law enforcement officers. 73 Furthermore, the statute does not specify the timing for production, only stating that it must occur as soon as practicable given the dynamic nature of discovery. 74 Since saying practicable is another way of saying feasible, 75 this requirement is designed to eliminate any withholding of information. As exemplified in the Michael Morton case, such information may prove to be critical to a client s rights to a fair trial and a lawyer s obligation to provide adequate representation. 76 Article further requires that the prosecution document the discovery supplied to the defense, and continue to offer discovery promptly even after initial disclosures. 77 (k) If at any time before, during, or after trial the state discovers any additional document, item, or information required to be disclosed under subsection (h), the state shall promptly disclose the existence of the document, item, or information to the defendant or the court. 78 Subsection (k) therefore implies that the as soon as practicable time frame indicates immediate production when it is feasible. The prompt disclosure provision also encompasses exculpatory, impeaching, or mitigating evidence. 79 While the Act does not define promptly, 80 it may be construed to mean within five days of a request. 81 The Act also 72. CRIM. PROC (a). 73. Id. 74. Id. 75. See BLACK S LAW DICTIONARY 584 (4th pocket ed. 2011) (meaning reasonably capable of being accomplished or feasible). Under Texas law, as soon as practicable within insurance policies is defined to require only that notice be given within a reasonable time in light of the surrounding circumstances. Blanton v. Vesta Lloyds Ins. Co., 185 S.W.3d 607, 611 (Tex. App Dallas 2006, no pet.). 76. See United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 107 (1976) ( First, in advance of trial, and perhaps during the course of a trial as well, the prosecutor must decide what, if anything, he should voluntarily submit to defense counsel. ); Bruce Green et al., Brady Resolution, 2011 A.B.A. SEC. CRIM. J. REP. 105D (resolving timely as disclosing exculpatory evidence, including impeachment evidence before the commencement of trial or before a guilty plea). 77. CRIM. PROC (k). 78. Id. (emphasis added). 79. See id (h) ( [T]he state shall disclose to the defendant any exculpatory, impeachment, or mitigating document, item, or information in the possession, custody, or control of the state.... ). 80. Id See N.L.R.B. Procedural Rule, 29 C.F.R (2014). 29 C.F.R states: Whenever the regional attorney or other Board officer to whom the matter may be referred

11 2015] RECENT DEVELOPMENT 417 requires that production be memorialized. Sections 39.14(i) and (j) provide: (i) The state shall electronically record or otherwise document any document, item, or other information provided to the defendant under this article. 82 (j) Before accepting a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or before trial, each party shall acknowledge in writing or on the record in open court the disclosure, receipt, and list of all documents, items, and information provided to the defendant under this article. 83 The Act also limits use of discovery. Article 39.14(e) states that a representative of the defendant cannot turnover information to third parties. 84 This restriction would present a crippling barrier to effective use of the disclosed information, 85 but subsection (e) excepts investigators, experts, consulting legal counsel, or other agents of the attorney are not such third parties. 86 Therefore, once defense counsel has established an agency relationship with experts hired on the behalf of the defense, they are no longer considered third parties under article The use of Kovel letters is recommended to establish these relationships. 88 The seeks injunctive relief of a district court pursuant to section 10(l) of the Act, a complaint against the party or parties sought to be enjoined, covering the same subject matter as such application for injunctive relief, shall be issued promptly, normally within [five] days of the date upon which such injunctive relief is first sought. Id. 82. CRIM. PROC (i). 83. Id. 84. See id (e). Section 39.14(e) states: Except as provided by Subsection (f), the defendant, the attorney representing the defendant, or an investigator, expert, consulting legal counsel, or other agent of the attorney representing the defendant may not disclose to a third party any documents, evidence, materials, or witness statements received from the state under this article. Id. 85. For example, video recording of a Standard Field Sobriety Test in a DWI stop and arrest would require defense counsel to obscure the license plate of any vehicles on the scene before producing a copy of the video to a consulting expert. However, this would alter the video and call into question the expert s opinion regarding that altered video. 86. See CRIM. PROC (e) (referring to subsection (f) which distinguishes investigators, consulting attorneys and experts from third parties). 87. See id (f) (allowing defense attorneys and their agents to share documentation provided by the state under article 39 with a defendant, witness, or prospective witness provided that certain information be redacted). 88. See Cheryl C. Magat, How Attorney-Client Privilege and the Work Product Doctrine May Apply to Third Parties in Tax Law, PRAC. TAX LAW., Summer 2011, at 21, 23 (2011) ( To invoke attorney-client privilege so that it extends to the [expert], the attorney should have an agreement in writing in the

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